The 2013 Bills season finished their season like they have done in recent years; 6-10 and out of the playoffs. Sadly this means while other teams are fighting it out in the playoffs the Bills are in offseason mode yet again. But with a team that went 6-10, surprisingly there are very little holes on this team that need to be addressed. Instead there are some positions that can possibly be upgraded. If the Bills knock this offseason out of the ballpark like they did last year, the end results could spectacular.
First thing the Bills should do is the cutdowns of players who are not worth their contracts and save valuable cap space. The first round of players would be Kevin Kolb (or he retires due to concussions), Doug Legursky, and Erick Pears would give the Bills $7 million back in cap space. That $7 million will be very helpful as they look to resign Jairus Byrd and extemd Marcel Dareus. If Byrd does not agree to what the Bills want, then slap the franchise tag on him again and try to work out a trade. A couple of other key players that are Free Agents that could be resigned are the Special Team Duo of Brian Moorman and Dan Carpenter. The Bills should look to resign both (at least to compete in camp) but if Dan Carpenter is asking for too much (and he will), they still have Dustin Hopkins who was on IR last year. The biggest name left is Tight End Scott Chandler, he was a great safety valve for EJ and resigning him allows the Bills to have a TE who is taller than 6’3 as well give them some depth in the position. However if his asking price is too high, they still can (and should) address the position in the draft.
Now onto actual Free Agency and the Bills can use this to get some real value players. The two biggest holes on the Bills roster were LG and RT and one of those can be addressed. For RT, Roger Staffold can be signed cheaply as the Rams will more than likely use their 1st pick on Jake Matthews from Texas A&M, for the LG position, Joe Asamoah or Geoff Schwartz are two key names to look at as both are from the Chiefs and more than likely KC will only resign one. Also on offense another potential move would be to get another veteran receiver. Right now the only players with more than 1 year of experience are Stevie Johnson and TJ Graham and TJ Graham might be out the door. Another veteran Wide Receiver would be a good thing especially if the Bills draft another WR early in the draft. Anquan Boldin would be an intriguing choice as he is a physical receiver (which the Bills lack), and he is up there in age that he will not ask for a big contract, like Eric Decker or Golden Tate would.
On defense the Bills are mostly set, especially if they are successful in resigning Byrd. However the only major hole is ILB who is very good at stopping the run. The pickings for this are not the greatest names but one that could be intriguing would be Brandon Spikes if he does not get resigned by Patriots (even though he is a Gator). Spikes is very good against a run but not the greatest against the pass, this is why his asking price would not be that great plus he is currently on IR which means the potential playoff bump might not be there. Spikes would be good with Kiko Alonso as they could play off each other strengths and cover the other’s flaws. However if he stays with the Pats or goes elsewhere other names are Jason Worilds, Donald Butler, and Akeem Jordan, all of which would be great value players who will not be asking for huge contracts. Lastly CB is another position to look at a veteran for depth as right now the Bills only have 3 above average corners and this year showed how important depth is. Unless the Bills want to have another situation where they are forced to start someone like Justin Rogers, they would look at some on the Free Agent Market.
Overall the Bills really only have 3 major holes on their team and there can be great value finds that can address them which at worst means depth and you can never have too much depth.
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